Flag flying in Rocky Mountain House was a hot topic during the Sept. 10 Governance and Priority Committee (GPC) meeting.
Several Rocky Mountain House town councillors expressed dismay at the current practice of the official Town of Rocky Mountain House flag being first on the chopping block when another, temporary flag is raised.
In an impassioned statement, Deputy Mayor Ken Moesker says he believes the Town of Rocky Mountain House flag should be flown at all times.
“Today we have the opportunity to begin the process of righting a wrong and restoring the dignity and honour that the Town of Rocky Mountain House flag deserves,” said Moesker. “As councillors, I believe one of our duties is to encourage and model civic pride. One of the easiest and most visible ways to do that is to make sure a flag is flown whenever possible.”
CAO Dean Krause says there are indeed instances where the Town of Rocky Mountain House flag is lowered.
“Because we only have so many limited flag poles, without worrying about insulting another organization, we always lower the town flag and shift everything over,” says Krause.
According to protocol, Moesker says the only precedent for removing a municipal flag would be to make room for the flag of a higher order of government, when there are not enough flag poles for every flag.
Current flag policy sets the order in which the flags are to be flown at three official locations in town:
- National Flag of Canada
- Flags of other sovereign nations (in alphabetical order)
- Flags of the provinces of Canada (in order of Confederation)
- Flags of municipalities/cities
- Indigenous flags
- Flags of organizations
The Town currently maintains three official flag flying locations: town office, the Lou Soppit Community Centre, and the fire hall.
Coun. Tina Hutchinson suggested having a ‘courtesy’ flag pole erected where flags of organizations could be flown, but admitted it would be a future budget consideration.
As part of the flag discussion, Coun. Len Phillips suggested having a defined duration for special flags to fly, as requests to council vary from a few days all the way up to a month.
One month is too long, he says, and suggested a week as a better benchmark.
Phillips also suggested having ‘flags of organizations’ fly on the side of buildings adjacent to official displays instead of on the masts themselves.
“Let’s be proud of our flag,” says Moesker. “I understand that the practice is to not insult anybody else, but I’m not exactly sure how this is not insulting.”
Council passed a motion to bring a draft flag flying policy to the Oct. 8, 2024 GPC meeting.
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